Just had a debate with somebody after they showed me their torrent collection of games, movies, music, porn and books which went into terabytes worth of data. He admitted that he barely uses half the stuff he downloads but just 'likes to have it'. When I asked him how he justified this to himself he went on a massive spiel about how piracy isn't stealing, it's just 'duplication' and that nobody loses out as a result of his actions; in fact his recommendations if it's good may lead to more sales wtc. He also said that if he really likes something he'll buy it but when pressed he admitted this is rarely the case unless he seeks to gain something more e.g. Online multiplayer in games etc.

What fascinates me is that he didn't see anything wrong with what he was doing. Even seemed to think it was his moral prerogative to do it.

Now I will admit to 'indulging' in this act a fair bit myself, but I accept it for what it is; nicking stuff for free that I should pay for. Which camp do you fall into? Is there really any justification for it or are people just kidding themselves?

Eh, justifying piracy really doesn't matter. I'm not really hurting anyone. I'm either going to pay some other asshole selling me a low quality rip (that's how things work here: most music/dvd stores just sell pirated copies), or I'm going to get it for free. I'm not going to order something off the internet because: there's no easy way I'm going to receive it, I don't have a way of paying for the product, I don't have the money to get a way to pay for products and I don't have the money to pay for the product anyway.

However, justifying piracy is not wrong at all. If you've never tried to justify piracy (or anything for that matter), then you really don't know whether it's wrong or right.

She was born in 1898 in a barn. She died on the thirty-seventh floor of a skyscraper. She's an astronaut.

Well, my iPod would cost thousands of dollars to fill with music purchased legally, and there's no way I'd be spending that much money I don't have on music, regardless of whether or not there were a free alternative. In fact, were downloading not to exist, I likely wouldn't bother with an iPod at all. I'd have a CD player or Walkman or something. So that's a sale Apple wouldn't have made, and a product a Chinese kid wouldn't have manufactured, and a paycheck they wouldn't have earned and several meals they wouldn't be able to put on their family's table. Cogito ergo sum, downloading is justified.

Quote by EpiExplorer

I swear this guy in particular writes for the telegraph or some shit.

Quote by Fat Lard

My name can actually be traced back to as early as the 1990s, it means "fuck off data miner"

I don't do it all that often, usually only if I can't obtain it by legal means.The main reason is that poor quality annoys the shit out of me, which a lot of pirated stuff usually is. Also when you spend a day downloading a movie and it turns out that its just 2 hours of porn....yeah well I suppose that's not all that bad.

I don't do it all that often, usually only if I can't obtain it by legal means.The main reason is that poor quality annoys the shit out of me, which a lot of pirated stuff usually is. Also when you spend a day downloading a movie and it turns out that its just 2 hours of porn....yeah well I suppose that's not all that bad.

Well, my iPod would cost thousands of dollars to fill with music purchased legally, and there's no way I'd be spending that much money I don't have on music, regardless of whether or not there were a free alternative. In fact, were downloading not to exist, I likely wouldn't bother with an iPod at all.

You have no right to just take the music that someone worked and paid to make, you are scum, etc etc.

We've had this thread so many times that I just can't be assed anymore.

All I want is for everyone to go to hell......It's the last place I was seen before I lost myself

I've torrented more music production than you could shake a stick at. Must be getting on for $50,000 worth of stuff just for production. Wouldn't be on my Uni course studying for the career I want to have if I didn't.

Things were going great for Napster way back back in day; Before Metallica got involved.

Quote by laid-to-waste

look nigga, if you're chillin with 5 bros and 2 hos, you're gonna wanna pay attention to all of em equally. not moon over the hos forever and laugh at every shitty thing they say and just stare at them all night, like some of my mates do.

I only download off YouTube bootlegs of live shows and stuff they don't release here, like that Slash's Snakepit second Album, Ain't Life Grand -- It came out, I was young, I never bought it, then for some reason, I can't buy it in England anymore -- Tried to buy it from America online this one time in college and the freaking sale fell through due to publishing or some b/s.I download the HELL out of that album.

Quote by laid-to-waste

look nigga, if you're chillin with 5 bros and 2 hos, you're gonna wanna pay attention to all of em equally. not moon over the hos forever and laugh at every shitty thing they say and just stare at them all night, like some of my mates do.

I only download off YouTube bootlegs of live shows and stuff they don't release here, like that Slash's Snakepit second Album, Ain't Life Grand -- It came out, I was young, I never bought it, then for some reason, I can't buy it in England anymore -- Tried to buy it from America online this one time in college and the freaking sale fell through due to publishing or some b/s.I download the HELL out of that album.

Moral of the story; If you won't sell it to me, I'm still going to have it.

Quote by laid-to-waste

look nigga, if you're chillin with 5 bros and 2 hos, you're gonna wanna pay attention to all of em equally. not moon over the hos forever and laugh at every shitty thing they say and just stare at them all night, like some of my mates do.

Well, my iPod would cost thousands of dollars to fill with music purchased legally, and there's no way I'd be spending that much money I don't have on music, regardless of whether or not there were a free alternative.

"I don't have the money to buy something I don't even need, therefore I'm just going to steal it."

"I don't have the money to buy something I don't even need, therefore I'm just going to steal it."

Yeah, great argument there.

This is the argument that pisses me off the most.

I torrent most of my music, but I do it safe in the knowledge that it's wrong. Free stuff is better than not free stuff though and, because I can't see any of the adverse effects of committing this crime, I don't feel guilty. People should just admit this

And I have my illegal downloads here, in various different forms... Old hard drives/mp3 players, burnt cds/Xboxs ect... I don't download anymore. I stream.

And also, I'm on PRS and I do tell them about covers so for example, if something I made makes £5.00 one day, they get the money, not me.

Quote by laid-to-waste

look nigga, if you're chillin with 5 bros and 2 hos, you're gonna wanna pay attention to all of em equally. not moon over the hos forever and laugh at every shitty thing they say and just stare at them all night, like some of my mates do.

My justification is 99% of the stuff I illegally download wouldn't have been bought in the first place. That said, I haven't torrented anything in a long while. When it comes to movies and music I prefer a physical copy with all the artwork and such for my collection. Also, I don't watch anything less than bluray quality unless it can't be found in bluray.

I've torrented more music production than you could shake a stick at. Must be getting on for $50,000 worth of stuff just for production. Wouldn't be on my Uni course studying for the career I want to have if I didn't.

This is a pretty good point actually. Similarly, I would never have ended up on my course if I hadn't pirated Logic Pro and all the other software I used illegally until recently. I simply could never have afforded it. I actually still haven't bought Logic, but I have bought plenty of other things and when version 10 comes out I will.I almost never pirate music nowadays, simply because I have Spotify premium, and it's so rare that I come across something that I want that isn't on there that I can afford to buy it all. I'm quite a fan of the kickstarter/indiegogo thing, e.g. Protest the Hero's plan for funding their latest album.

As for the justification that it isn't stealing.. Let's put it like this instead: sure, you're just duplicating the software or music itself, and that wouldn't be stealing if it wasn't for the nature of licensing. It's easier to think about if you imagine there being a pile of infinite licenses, and by duplicating the software and getting it to work without paying for it you are stealing one of those licenses, because it's the creator's decision who they give those licenses to.

As for the justification that it isn't stealing.. Let's put it like this instead: sure, you're just duplicating the software or music itself, and that wouldn't be stealing if it wasn't for the nature of licensing. It's easier to think about if you imagine there being a pile of infinite licenses, and by duplicating the software and getting it to work without paying for it you are stealing one of those licenses, because it's the creator's decision who they give those licenses to.

What the hell Australia why is everything so expensive? A game should cost no more than 45 currencies, a Cinema ticket no more than 12 and jesus, a gig should only be like 20 unless it's a stadium show of some massive band. I mean, I've been to Wembley Arena for £25 for feck sake.

A gig here doesn't cost $120. Like not even close. Movie tickets are about 18 bucks for an adult, but students typically pay significantly less. And games do not cost $100-$120. I don't even know what sort of games you are buying.